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English Vocabulary in Use Advance (Unit 88: Word-building and word-blending)


A. Common well-established word parts

Many literary or academic words in English are formed using Latin and ancient Greek prefixes and roots. Many English speakers are not aware of the meanings of the word parts listed here, but knowing them can help you to understand and remember new words.

word part meaning example
auto- self an autonomous region [self-ruling]
bio- life, living things biodegradable packaging [able to decay naturally]
cyber- relating to computers and robots a cybercafé [café where customers can use computers and the internet]
de- opposite action demotivate [make someone feel less interested and enthusiastic about something]
mono- single, one monocycle [cycle with just one wheel]
-graph- writing a monograph [long article or short book on a single subject that the writer has studied for a long time]
-gress- step, walk, go a congress [a conference, i.e. a meeting where people come together]
-ics an area of study or knowledge obstetrics [the study of pregnancy and childbirth]
-phon- sound phonetics [the study of human speech sounds]
-ology study criminology [the study of crime and criminals]
pre- (opp. = post-) before prepaid tickets [tickets paid for in advance]
retro- back, backwards retroactive law [taking effect from a date in the past]
techno- relating to advanced machines technophobia [fear of using technology such as computers]
tele- over a distance telepathic experience [feeling something from a distance]

Language help

 Although the word parts above will help you to understand words, you cannot use them as freely to form new words as the prefixes and suffixes in Units 86 and 87.

B. Blends

An interesting, if much less common, way of forming words is by combining two well-established words, e.g. brunch = a meal that is a combination of breakfast and lunch.
heliport: a place where helicopters can land and take off (helicopter + airport)
smog: polluted fog (smoke + fog)
motel: a roadside hotel for people travelling by car (motor + hotel)
webinar: a seminar delivered over the internet via a designated website (web + seminar)
guesstimate: an approximate calculation (guess + estimate; verb = to guesstimate)
docudrama: TV programme that dramatises real historical events (documentary + drama)
breathalyser: a device to find out how much alcohol a person has drunk (breath + analyse)
Exercise-88.1


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